Political Commentary on Issues for Southern Arizona Congressional District 7 voters

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Total Screw Up that ObamaCare Has Become

As debate continues in the House to try and reconcile the House's Single Payer Trojan Horse with the Senate's watered down tax and spend compromise, the two advocates that Democrats have depended on throughout the debate are still clinging to the mirage that the bill will solve health care problems, despite signs of a collapse in the house of cards that healthcare reform/socialized medicine has become.

The major networks continue to blindly support the illusion of healthcare reform despite the obvious pitfalls in the Senate bill. In one glaring indication, NBC news squelched their own poll which showed Americans felt the bill was a "bad idea" 48% to 36%. http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2010/20100317023913.aspx
So much for an unbiased media looking out for the public interest.

In a more telling action, the Obama administration this week called union leaders to the White House to "consider" changes to the House reconciliation bill.http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2010/20100317023913.aspx
I thought this administration was about getting rid of Special Interests power in Washington. Now we have Union leaders writing reconciliation bills for the House?

The fact of the matter is that Democratic plans for Health care reform were poorly planned from the start, based on Progressive ideals that were proved wrong by the fall of the Soviet Union. In review, according to the summary by Heritage Foundation's Morning Bell, all of the Democratic plans have suffered from the same flaws:

New Middle-Class Taxes: Throughout his campaign, President Barack Obama promised he would not raise taxes on American households making less than $250,000. The Senate bill shatters that promise. For starters, just look at the reason Trumka went to the White House yesterday: the excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans. This tax would overwhelmingly hit middle-class taxpayers. Taxes on prescription drugs, wheel chairs and other medical devices would also be passed on to all consumers, hitting the lower- and middle- classes the hardest.

Increased Health Care Costs: The Senate bill manifestly does nothing to bend the health care cost curve downward. According to the latest CBO report, the Senate bill would actually increase health care spending by $210 billion over the next 10 years. This follows a previous report from the President's own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) showing the Senate bill would result in $234 billion in additional health care spending over 10 years.

Increased Health Insurance Premiums: The President initially promised that Americans would see a $2,500 annual reduction in their family health care costs. But under the Senate bill, premiums would go up for millions of Americans. In fact, according to the CBO, estimated premiums in the individual market would be 10–13 percent higher by 2016 than they would be under current law.

Increased Deficits: Despite claiming to be comprehensive health care reform, the Senate bill does not address the fact that Medicare's current price-fixing doctor reimbursement scheme is set to reduce doctor payments by 21% this year. That simply is not going to happen. Congress will pass that fix separately. If that cost were included, Obamacare is already $200 billion in the red. Now throw in the fact that the Senate bill is paid for with another $463 billion in Medicare cuts to health care providers. CMS says if these cuts occur, one-fifth of all health care providers will face bankruptcy. That simply is not going to happen. Just like the doctor reimbursement cuts have never happened, the Obamacare Medicare cuts will never happen. So in reality, Obamacare will add almost $700 billion to our national deficit in the next ten years alone.

Increases Unemployment and Puts Millions of Americans on Welfare: According to The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis (CDA), a dynamic analysis of the tax hikes and deficits created by the Senate bill shows that an average 690,000 jobs per year would be lost if it became law. In addition, over half of all Americans who would gain health insurance through the bill (18 million out of 33 million) would do so by being placed on Medicaid, which is a welfare program.

Higher taxes, higher health care costs, higher health insurance premiums, higher deficits, more unemployment and more Americans on welfare. That is America's future should the Senate Obamacare bill become law.

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Just a concerned Arizonan

Who am I? Like yourself, I am a concerned citizen who is sick of elected officials who's only concern is their own political future. In 1994 I moved to southern Arizona to work and live because of the large number of jobs being created in this fabulous state. Like most Arizonans I value the freedom of economic opportunity that this state is known for and that has helped us to thrive. Unfortunately, many politicians, having passed themselves off as sharing these values, now promote a socialistic agenda, wanting to spend the wealth that Arizonan's create on large government and programs that stifle creativity and initiative. I wish to be a voice in opposition to these charlatans. Enjoy my blog.